1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates in general to integrated circuits and, in particular, to a system on a chip (SoC).
2. Relevant Background
An SoC is an integrated circuit (IC) that integrates components of a computer or other electronic system into a single chip. For instance, it may contain digital, analog, mixed-signal, and often radio-frequency functions all on a single chip substrate. Sophisticated design and fabrication techniques are rapidly making practical SoCs a reality. In turn, a broad range of personal and commercial hand-held appliances can be constructed which embody a high degree of functionality. These appliances include smartphones, tablet computers, personal digital assistants, personal digital music players, compact computers, point of sale devices, and Internet access devices, to name only a few of the possibilities.
Generally, a number of factors are addressed when designing an SoC. Among other things, the SoC should be capable of interfacing with a broad range of input/output devices which may be required to support various potential user-defined applications. Moreover, the SoC should be power efficient while operating at high clock speeds. Furthermore, the SoC should have a large address space to flexibly support a range of possible memory configurations and sizes.